People Matter. Things Don’t.

Since I’ve mentioned meeting with several new friends over the last few days I will write about one more such friend today. This is a brother I met many years ago but in God’s providence we did not get “connected” until a few days ago.

The title I have on this post is taken from the web site of the church my friend serves: Resurrection Anglican Church in West Chicago, Illinois. The pastor of Resurrection Church is Rev. Dr. George Koch. The church’s tag line might jar you at first but I believe it is not only catchy but contextually right. If what Jesus says is rightly understood, and applied to our time and place, then I think this catchy slogan makes perfect sense. Here is how Resurrection Anglican Church puts it:

“People matter. Things don’t.” is not so simple-minded as to mean things are all utterly irrelevant. Obviously things can bring great joy – sunsets, music, flowers, medicine, worship services, scripture, relationships, soccer, and more. Those are all “things.” The point is that the love of “things” has often resulted in the hurting of people, because some “thing” – such as wealth or even religion – was valued more highly than people, and so people were pushed aside, or hurt, or killed. Saying “People matter. Things don’t.” is to help us get our priorities straight. In so doing, we follow the lead of our Savior.

George Koch and I had a marvelous time of prayer and vision casting. We are both convinced that we should keep pursuing friendship in order to celebrate the kingdom of God in our midst and ministries. I am thrilled. I expect, once again, that I will benefit beyond my wildest imagination from this wonderful brother in Christ.